bestie1:Keeley said: "It is a challenge but without being so careful we wouldn't be able to make ends meet.She's a scum? She is a hard working mom that is trying to get by in a bad economy. What are you objecting too? All I can think of is that her behavior contradicts your would view. If she was trust fund hippie buying used mechanics uniforms from goodwill then you'd be all for it.

She steals, and thinks that´s a saving money tip she can pass on.

She scams restaurents, and doesn´t have enough selfawareness to be ashamed of it.

The family, from Leeds, have been forced into watching their pennies while they struggle to get by on Darren's £5,000-a-year wage and Keeley's meagre cleaning income.

Well maybe if you or your husband could take some time out of your busy day of grabbing whatever free shiat you find lying about society.. one of you (or together) might be able to eke out a living wage.

I'm pretty sure you can make more than 5k/year just sleeping on the sidewalk with a hat turned upside down next to you.

Reminds me of those people we've all worked with at some point that worked harder at not working than they ever would have needed to just doing their jobs.

The idiots who go on about saving money are never the ones who say "I make the world's best southern drop biscuits, biryani and pasta".Most of the world was dirt poor for most of history, and as a result, it's easy to learn to make delicious, nutritious food for pennies a day. Learn to cook from grains, legumes and vegetables. Please, everyone, learn.

I can empathize with her -- but not 100%. Apparently her hubby qualifies for the dole (unemployment) but likes to work so he works, but makes less money than if he didn't.

In many countries, public bathrooms are provided, however, it's up to you to provide your own TP. Some have machines in them that sell limited amounts for a few cents. I think I now understand their logic.

'Freebies' in restaurants -- such as seasoning packets -- aren't there to snatch up and take home. They're a courtesy. The company pays for them. Some places, having had their condiments raided too many times, now keep them behind the counter and you have to ask for them.

I used to know some college kids who would go into a restaurant, order mugs of hot water, then make 'tomato soup' with the ketchup on the table and free packets of crackers.

Having been way down on my luck before, I understand the frustration of high gas and power bills. I turned off the pilot lights on my gas stove and was surprised to see how much it saved me. Then, I turned off the gas water heater while at work. I shut the pilot light off on the big gas heater in the living room.

However, when winter hit, I periodically had to turn the monster on for a time and I swear you could watch the propane gas gauge drop on the main tank.

I did a lot of my own cooking. Ate a whole lot of cheap rice, found cheap cuts of meat that I'd trim, then boil with bullion cubes to make broth, thicken that with flour and seasoning, and add it to potatoes or rice. I found that frozen peas were slightly cheaper than canned and added handfuls of those to soups and stews. I'd buy cheap, store brand canned soups, add broth and vegetables to them and came up with some cheap, nourishing tasty meals.

I kept most of my lights out, but I need a/c. So I stayed mainly in my bedroom with it's big window unit and the door closed when it was too hot.Sometimes, I washed laundry by hand in the bath tub using cheap dish soap and hung it outside on a cloths line to dry.

TP? Never stole any but I soon discovered that the cheapest brands were single ply, meaning you had to use twice as much.

Now and then, especially in winter, I watched TV by candle light, with candles I made myself from the remains of old candles and crayons. Back then, kerosene was dirt cheap, so I bought these cheap kerosene wick lamps and would use them now and then. (Trimming the wick was a PIA. Do it wrong and you sooted up the chimney and lost some light.) In the winter, the heat from the lamps helped warm the room I'd stay in. Unfortunately, such lamps give off the aroma of the fuel. In small spaces, it can get a bit intense.

I bought day old bread from surplus stores and made stuffing's. Bullion cubes, home made broth, and diced veggies went into the mix. I learned how to take wilted celery, soak them in a bowl of water over night and crisp them up again.I tried making my own bread -- but what came out had the consistency of a cement brick. However, a cheap box of Bisquick and some cheap additives made for some tasty biscuits and flapjacks. (Make a biscuit batter. Toss in some finely diced chunks of cheap cheese, a little salt and a little sugar and bake and you have some great tasting stuff.)

Old veggies, close to rotting, can be cleaned up, diced and boiled into broth. You can strain out the solids or keep them and toss in rice and have a nice rice and veggie meal. The rice soaks up the broth.

Often I cooked on my BBQ grill, using dried branches and twigs that fell off the huge Oak trees in my yard. That save a lot of propane gas.

There are many ways to save without stealing. Yes, I reused Tea Bags and even coffee grounds. (Boil the shiat out of the tea bags and you'll get a passable brew.) Used coffee grounds can be dried in a frying pan, several days worth, then all used to make a pot of coffee. Not great but not bad.

I also learned how to make Zucchini Pancakes. Cheap, tasty and nourishing and they freeze well. I did the same with potatoes.

Now and then I'd buy some cheap, off brand things like Vitamin E and D, B-12, calcium tablets, zink and Vit A. Several of those would be added to a simmering soup to increase the nutritional value without affect the flavor.

DON'T add fish oil to anything! Unless you like whatever it is you're making to taste like old fish.

Odd, though, when I griped to corporations about crappy goods I bought -- all I ever got was an apology letter and no free stuff. Even when I complimented them, I'd get a thank you note -- and no free stuff.

I even grew my own herbs in pots on the window sill.

I also pressed various remains of bar soap together to make a new one -- usually consisting a several different scents.

Sorry but you aren't saving much keeping the lights off, unless your lights are old school incandescent lights. And even then. So CCFLs and LEDs tend to be about 10-15 watts for normal lights (the kind that replace 60-100 watt incandescents). Say you have 3 15 watt ones in your living room. That's 45 watts. So you have to run them for over 22 hours to use 1kWh of electricity. Now look at your bill, what does a kWh cost you? My research seems to indicate 10-15 pence per kWh. That means running those lights for a week straight, 24/7, costs less than a pound.

You'd save a heel of a lot more by just not going out to eat once.

I'm not saying leave lights on when you aren't using them, but trying to turn them off when you would want them is stupid. Lighting is not expensive, particularly with modern technology.

That's the problem I find with many "thrifty" people is they are in fact not. They are cheap. They will refuse to spend money on things that they could and should, and then waste money on other things that they shouldn't. My friend's dad has always been this way. He cheaps out on everything he buys, which often costs him more because the cheap stuff breaks, but then stocks up on things he doesn't need because it is "cheap". My friend found and threw away a couple hundred expired AA batteries. His dad had bought a number of these massive 48 pack boxes because they were a "good deal" and used so few of them that they were now like 20 years old, and the batteries just don't hold a charge that long.

Because he told me when he was responsible for me during potty training when I stayed with him when I was 3. I remember things like that because he was my great grand father and I loved him. I really don't understand your point. I guess you never had a family. Sorry.

My Great Grandfather believed in using 4. 2 per swipe. He grew up hard. During most of his life it was the Sears Robuk catalog. I think the objection is that Farkers don't want to accept how hard times are for some people. It's becoming a non-game for a lot of people to get by.

I went to college too. Our profs. used to love to go on about class warfare and income disparity. Well you are starting to see it really happen. Draw your own conclusions about the cause.

bestie1:Keeley said: "It is a challenge but without being so careful we wouldn't be able to make ends meet.She's a scum? She is a hard working mom that is trying to get by in a bad economy. What are you objecting too? All I can think of is that her behavior contradicts your would view. If she was trust fund hippie buying used mechanics uniforms from goodwill then you'd be all for it.

You're probably trolling, but I, personally, am objecting to her theft and scams. That toilet paper isn't hers to take. That crap she pulls in the restaurants probably results in a cook or wait staff getting reprimanded or fired. And what the hell is she doing in a restaurant anyway? I appreciate that she wants to be thrifty. But when she affects other people's livelihoods (such as the wait staff), that's too far.

I love how she gets free stuff at a restaurant (due to her complaining) and then complains AGAIN to the home office and gets more freebies, then farkING BRAGS ABOUT IT like she's some sort of genius.

I have no issue with complaining when service or products are (pointedly) subpar. I'm actually pretty good at getting at least some token of apology when I write my complaint emails or speak to a manager. (Which happens like once a year, at most.)

This biatch is taking it to a whole new level though....you don't busdrive the manager of the place after he's already comped you freebies and you're happy. I wonder how many people read this article and are like "Oh, I know this biatch!"

Hopefully her little gravy train will come to an end now that she's gotten publicity.

I don't begrudge anyone trying to make ends meet, even if they have to be a little shady (and while I don't know much about the economy/her public assistance status over there, those numbers sound awfully bad)...but don't shove it in everyone's face.

Badgers:Happy Hours: I relit it myself (it's not that hard) and was happy again, but it pointed out to me that warm water stays kind of warm even when not constantly heated.

... and that's the way bacteria like it. If the water stays under 60 celcius for an extended amount of time, they start to grow rapidly and you may end up with legionellosis. This happens a lot in old folks homes, unfortunately.

You may want to look at an on-demand water heater that turns itself off inbetween instead.

60 C? What's that? 140 F? Okay...140 F is kind of warm. I'm not even sure my shower is that hot. But who the fark uses water that hot to wash their hands or brush their teeth?

NOBODY. That's who.

Hey man, did you know that when I was a kid I swam in a pond that was probably about 60 F (fark you - your turn to convert to celsius) and guess what? I survived.

If unheated water were really a problem people would be dying or at least getting sick from it, but we're not. We're fine. We're healthy. We have immune systems. Even elderly people survive the FUD that you are trying to spread about non-scalding water.

A quick google search tells me that temps over 115 F might even be dangerous so I'm pretty sure I take my showers with water well under 60C.Goddammit people are stupid.

I don't even wipe my ass with public restroom TP, and this chick steals it to take home?? Does she have any idea how much fecal matter is from hundreds of strangers is on that TP, which has been sitting there for god knows how long, flush, after flush. A single toilet flush can spray fecal particles in every direction for several feet...public TP is disgusting.

Not a tea drinker, but wouldn't it be easier just to use the tea bag once to brew a big pot of tea and then reheat it? I'm sure one of those restaurants where they swipe the free condiments from must have one jsut sitting around not being used.

I've been poor my entire life but at least I can say I've never stolen or lied to get by. This farking woman is nothing more than a scammy biatch who has decided to brag about it as if it's something great./fark theives.

We had a family like this hit one of our offices last year. Most of our clients show up alone, but this time, a whole herd of people showed up. The client heads to the service area, while the receptionist hears about saving gas money, by scheduling all the family trips in one day. The locusts proceed to go through everything, from pens put out for documentation, to a 5 gallon bottle of water, and all the little cups in the dispenser, to every frigging roll of toilet paper, box of tissue paper, and the box of trash can liners in the restroom. All the while, they were complaining how expensive everything was at the Apple store.

When we discovered the losses in the restroom, we made sure to empty it completely when the client was scheduled for another visit. And we removed the water dispenser, and all materials in the reception area. This visit, the adult complained the little ones had nothing to do, so we suggested a nice walk outside while they waited.

bestie1:Not what your talking about. Taking your kids out once a month to buffet costs 25 bucks. Maybe she should have cut that too.

My concern isn't that she wastes $25 on one meal while while stealing and scamming practically everything else she owns, my concern is that she goes to the restaurant with the specific intent of filing malicious complaints, possibly costing someone their job and even further hurting the economy, just so she can scam even more money out of another company.

SnarfVader:You're probably trolling, but I, personally, am objecting to her theft and scams. That toilet paper isn't hers to take. That crap she pulls in the restaurants probably results in a cook or wait staff getting reprimanded or fired. And what the hell is she doing in a restaurant anyway? I appreciate that she wants to be thrifty. But when she affects other people's livelihoods (such as the wait staff), that's too far.

This!

I've taken austerity measures in my own life. I don't ration toilet paper, but it's pretty rare for me to go to a restaurant.

And by restaurant I mean Sonic or Chinese takeout. Neither of them are exactly good values, but every couple of months I get the urge to really splurge and have some food that I didn't have to make myself.

I like Sonic's tater tots and I don't even know where Burger king or Wendy's is (McDonald's is next to Sonic, but I swore them off nearly 20 years ago because they're inconsistent). The Chinese takeout place usually lasts me 2-3 days in leftovers and it's decent food, so I'm okay with that.

But seriously, if you're watching your budget the word restaurant should not be in your vocabulary.

the ha ha guy:bestie1: I don't think she mentioned going out to eat. I really doubt she does.

So what did she do, hijack someone else's table and complain about the food on their plates?

"I got complimentary drinks in a restaurant after complaining about the food."

Not what your talking about. Taking your kids out once a month to buffet costs 25 bucks. Maybe she should have cut that too. When you are broke you try to keep something back to do something once in while. We used to movie hop. 16 bucks and watch 4 movies in a day. We'd bring our own snacks and pop. Hell I had movie maps and schedules. I'd plan on Friday for our Saturday outing. Routes and time tables. Get over it.

A woman I worked with years ago would tell us that when she went to restaurants she would mention to them that she was a food critic or some such thing for the sole purpose of getting free meals. Rather scummy thing for a manager to do, especially one that wasn't even remotely a food critic nor even worked in a capacity even remotely related to food, or critiquing.

I don't like her stealing toilet paper but I've done it when we were broke too. There was a point in Northern Virginia where we did not make enough money to live in a safe neighborhood and we had kids. The bank account went down and down by 200 bucks a month. We cut everything. It's just math. 25 on toilet paper saved means you cut 1/8th the deficit.

bestie1:She's a scum? She is a hard working mom that is trying to get by in a bad economy.

1. They steal anything that isn't tied down."if they spy an untethered loo roll in a public toilet they grab that too."

2. They refuse basic hygiene."And ration loo paper at home - six sheets are enough per visit!"

3. They make malicious false complaints against people, possibly even getting them fired, in order to scam money and vouchers out of a company."I got complimentary drinks in a restaurant after complaining about the food. Then when I got home I wrote to the head office and got vouchers.""I also got £25 from a bicycle retailer when I complained the wheels were wobbly. I was happy because I then took the bike back and got a refund."

4. She appears to be encouraging her husband to quit his job and take up stealing and scamming with her."Darren's only working part-time at the moment but he won't sign on because he likes to work."

But at least they aren't on welfare, so they get a free pass for all their stealing and scamming, right?

bestie1:Why is she smug? I'm not like her but I was raised better and I wish I was more so. You don't need all a new iPhone.

Because she's bragging about ripping people off, and she doing shiat that doesn't really save money. I can respect people that really cut their budgets back. Get rid of cable, have old school cell phones (or landlines) instead of shiny new smartphones, cook their own meals rather than eat out, etc, etc. You work on things, you often can scale your budget back a whole lot. However that's not what she's on about. She bragging about things that are:

1) Stupid. shiat like watching TV in the dark. That's fine, if you like not having the light on (I like to turn mine down) but doesn't do shiat for money saving. Modern lighting just doesn't take much power. So if you turn the lights off for a couple additional hours a day, you are saving a couple bucks a year, max.

2) Scummy. Like getting comped at a restaurant and then getting comped again from the corporate office. It is a scum bag move to demand compensation multiple times and pretend you didn't get it the first time. Of course she'd save even more by just not going out to eat.

3) Illegal. Taking toilet paper from public bathrooms? That is theft. No she won't get charged but it really isn't legal to just go and grab their supplies and take them with you. They are there for your use in the bathroom, not free to take as much as you like. Also this again doesn't save much money.

neilbradley:6 Sheets? In my household, that'd mean replacing underwear faster and going through laundry because of the mountain of skidmarks it'd create. On occasion, I've been known to go through an entire ROLL.

My rule is to use what I need. I can pretty much guarantee that at the very least it will be 6 sheets.

I don't want any shiat left on my ass and I certainly don't want any on my hands.

I have never needed a whole roll. A couple of times I have just said fark this, I'm taking a shower, but I never used anywhere near a whole roll.

Seriously, toilet paper is cheap. There are a lot of other ways to cut costs before you start rationing toilet paper.

I buy it so rarely that I'm not even sure of the cost, but when I do buy it, I buy the biggest package they sell and it can't be more than $20 and it lasts a year or so.

I did steal some when I was in college once but stealing crappy toilet paper is a pain in the ass. Spend a few bucks and get yourself some Charmin or Angel Soft. Come on, live a little! Enjoy the luxuries of life.

oh that's nothing, back when she was single she would even save money using condoms three times. forst was the regular way, second time inside-out, third time = bubble gum.

-- you folks bragging about eating for pennies a day are joyless human rabbits. food is one of life's great adventures and pleasures. if you are too cheap to enjoy decent meals i pity your miserly arses.

my brother eats like a forest creature, has to take the bus to work because his old van is always broke down, dresses like a pauper, lives in a dangerous low rent 'hood and always plays the i'm broke woe is me poverty card. in his living room is at least $150,000.00 of musical instruments and recording gear. that's his priority and his passion, which is fine, but it skews the rest of his life.

one of my sisters doesn't even have a proper set of cookware or drapes on the windows; she takes cheap / self-sacrifice to the point of being Amish. her four bedroom house on a large parcel of lakefront property is worth over $500,000.00. she somehow equates living a spartan lifestyle brings her closer to her God.

life is too short. rack up those credit cards, enjoy yourself and die broke. your kids hate you anyway.

jimmyego:"When my kids are opening birthday or Christmas presents, I never let them rip open the wrapping paper - I make them take it off carefully so I can use it again."

Woo-hoo Christmas fun!

My grandmother was like that. She's recently changed her mind about bothering to save wrapping paper. But, after 34 years of carefully cutting the tape on even modest packages, it almost requires an act of concentration and willpower to tear the paper. Hell, people in the family still get gifts with paper that's older than me.

The worst bit is occasionally getting something with an old name or three written on it, and unwrapping it only to have Nana snatch it from your hand and give to the intended recipient.

L.D. Ablo:She said: "I got complimentary drinks in a restaurant after complaining about the food. Then when I got home I wrote to the head office and got vouchers.

Scum.

That's exactly the part I was going to quote. This is the most annoying woman IN THE WORLD.And stealing rolls of toilet paper? Somebody bought those for f**ks sake, and not for her. This is basically scams and petty theft.

wildcardjack:The person actually cleaning the houses isn't going to make much money. But if you would recruit a handful of cleaners and find them work in exchange for 15% you'd come out ahead.

There's a free business model for ya miss. If you can't make that work then it's your own damned fault.

Good thing nobody's thought of it already/ Oh, wait, they have.

It can't really be that easy. You have to recruit low-income unskilled labor and manage them. Quite a few of them will be short-term workers or you'll have problems scheduling them. Some of them will probably be dishonest and will steal from your clients - not good. Some will just be worthless.

Heh - my family had a weekly maid when I was a kid. She drove a Cadillac when my parents drove Chevys. Okay, so it wasn't a new Caddy but it still had to be a Cadillac. She didn't get paid a lot, but it was a fair wage and my parents helped her out with interest free loans and even free money when she got into financial binds.

She didn't work for an agency. She worked for us - and probably about 4 other families. We found her through word of mouth. She was friendly, did a decent job and didn't steal shiat.

If I were to consider a maid from an agency I'd be afraid that she would be a biatch, wouldn't clean worth a shiat and would steal anything that she could.

As far as I can tell, most of these maid agencies get most of their work when people move meaning it's not regular work and what work they do get is along the lines of "My house is filthy and I'm supposed to clean it when I move."

Since someone in another thread suggested I host my own radio show, I'll offer you this:

staplermofo:The idiots who go on about saving money are never the ones who say "I make the world's best southern drop biscuits, biryani and pasta".Most of the world was dirt poor for most of history, and as a result, it's easy to learn to make delicious, nutritious food for pennies a day. Learn to cook from grains, legumes and vegetables. Please, everyone, learn.

My slow cooker makes 7 days of lunch for like $2.25. And that's fancy cookin'. People have a strange idea about what 'food' is sometimes.